Drew is missing both forearms and has leg abnormalities that prevent him from walking.

"It's called Tar Syndrome and it's very rare," said Janel Gatten, Drew's mother.

She said there's only about 4,000 cases in the world.

Janel and her husband, Nathan, said they've been to four specialists around the country, but none of them had a solution to help Drew walk.

The couple recently heard about Dr. Dror Paley of the Paley Institute at St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach.

He's widely considered one of the world's foremost experts on limb-lengthening.

"The traditional treatment for someone like Drew has been amputation, where you cut off the leg at the knee and then you put on a prosthesis," Paley said. "But with a kid who's got arms as short as he has and as limited as he is, he could never put on a prosthesis by himself, so you really have to save the legs."

The Gattens were sold.

In April, they left their home in Kentucky and moved to Greenacres to be near the hospital.

Dr. Paley got right to work on Drew's right leg.

He installed a device on his leg that keeps it straight and slowly rotates Drew's muscles one day at a time.

Janel Gatten said she can already see the benefits.

"His leg is so long and he's finally starting to get a little bit excited about how tall he's getting," Janel said.

Drew is scheduled to have surgery on his left leg in a few months.

His mother said afterwards, it should help him walk for the first time in his life.

"I almost tear up when I think about him actually taking the first steps," Janel said. "I get a knot in my throat."

Drew's father said it will be a special day.

"I'm not much of a crier, but when I finally see him taking his first steps, I'm probably going to burst out in tears," Nathan Gatten said.